Air-dropped segmental line explosive charge



' Original Filed-Aug. 15, 1956 N 7. 1967 R. E. AINSLIE ETAL 3,35

AIR-DROPPED SEGMENTAL LINE EXPLOSIVE CHARGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 93 @1 9.

Fig. '2

INVENTORS ROBERT E. AINSLIE PAUL COMISAROW BLANCHARD HUTCHINS Nov. 7,1967 R. E. AINSLIE ETAL 3,351,010

AIR-DROPPED SEGMENTAL LINE EXPLOSIVE CHARGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 OriginalFiled Aug. 15, 1956 INVENTORS ROBERT E. AINSLIE PAUL COMISAROW-BLANCHARD S. HUTCHINS United States Patent ()fifice 3,35 1,0 l PatentedNov. 7, 1967 3,351,010 AIR-DROPPED SEGMENTAL LINE EXPLOSIVE CHARGERobert E. Ainslie, Glenside, Paul Comisarow,

and Blanchard S. Hutchins, Warrington, Pa, assignors to the UnitedStates of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Originalapplication Aug. 15, 1956, Ser. No. 604,292, now Patent No. 3,064,568,dated Nov. 20, 1962. Divided and this application Sept. 16, 1959, Ser.No. 840,478

. 1 'Claim. (Cl. 102-4) The invention described herein may bemanufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States ofAmerica for governmental purposes without the payment of any royaltiesthereon or therefor.

The present invention relates to a segmented line explosive chargeandmore particularly to a segmented line explosive charge which isdispensed in a fully extended attitude from an aircraft in flight.

' Previous devices for exploding paths through mine fields requiredpersonnel to approach the mined area and carryout a procedure which washighly susceptible to interference by opposing forces. These devices areespecially disadvantageous when the mined or otherwise obstacled area isa beach and surprise is an important element in the assault.

The present invention utilizes airborne apparatus which when properlycarried and dropped into a target area will quickly and efficiently blowa path therethrough. It utilizes an explosive line charge coiled up inan airborne container which upon release from an altitude of about 500feet begins to dispense the line charge. The line charge is providedwith an arrangement of parachutes for maintaining the charge in anextended position during its fall and landing in the given target areafor insuring proper blasting.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 604,292, filedAug. 15, 1956, now US. Patent No. 3,064,- 568 for a Stabilized LineDispensing Device.

An object of the present invention is to provide aerial droppedapparatus for exploding a path through a mined area.

A further object is the provision of anovel arrangement for attaching anelongated member to one or more parachutes.

A. further object is a method of preparing an extended line charge orother articulated longitudinally extending element and dispensing sameaerially for free flight While maintaining an extended attitude.

Another object of the invention is the provision of aerial apparatus formaintaining a line of up to 300 feet in length in a straight andextended attitude during free fall.

A further object is to provide apparatus for containing and dispensingline charges of up to 300 feet in length while in flight.

The exact nature of this invention as well as other objects andadvantages thereof will be readily apparent from consideration of thefollowing specification relating to the annexed drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows the line dispensing device in its position in free flightwith the line charge fully extended;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentaryview of portions of the line chargeshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view along line 33 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view along line 44 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 1 illustrates line dispensing container in free flight with linecharge 16 fully extended and parachutes 12 and 12 mounted thereon.Container 10 maintains a nose-up position during its fall through spacebecause of Dresher,

the action of a pair of parachutes 13, explained further below. The rearof container 10 is shown without a tail cone since the latter isdiscarded before release of line charge 16. Line charge 16 extends fromthe rear outlet of container 10 and is connected to the interior of thelatter at its front end by a tie line 18. Line 18 and line charge 16 areconnected by a mechanical linkage 20. The rear of line charge 16 isconnected by linkage 22 with a leader rope 24 having a release parachute12'. Rope 24 terminates in a metal bushing 124 serving a purpose to bedescribed further below. Parachutes 12 mounted along the length of linecharge 16 are equispaced and are mounted with charge 16 passing throughcentral openings in the parachute canopies. These parachutes provideproper braking action so that during the fall of container 10 with line16 extending therefrom, the latter will land in a fully extendedattitude and permit an elongated explosive elfect in the designatedtarget area.

The container 10 is formed of a removable faired nose section 36, a mainbody section 38 and a removable faired tail section or cone, not shown.Central section 38 has a central bulged portion 42 for structuralpurposes. Mounted along the rear of central section 38 are four fins 44,which serve the function of maintaining a general axial alignment ofcontainer 10 during the period immediately following the drop from theaircraft to prevent container 10 from coming into contact with anyportion of the aircraft, and also a general, proper orientation duringfree fall. A pair of structural members, not shown, joining fins 44provide structural rigidity.

The line charge 16 is coiled in the forward end of container 10 and thiscoiling, although not illustrated, is continued for the whole length ofcontainer 10 in order to accommodate approximately 300 feet of linecharge and parachutes 12 which are equi-spaced along the length of theformer.

Parachutes 13 are connected 106 to a riser belt 107 terminating inbracketed straps 110 mounted on top of container 10. When the tail coneis released, parachutes 13 are whipped out by the airstream andinflated, thereby extending out in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1.

The details of line charge 16 and the parachutes mounted thereon areshown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. Linecharge through their shroud lines 16 isprovided at its forward and rear ends with connect ing linkages 20 and22, respectivelyjTie rope '18, which should be at least as long as thelength of container 10 when extended, is terminated at its forward endaround bushing 84, FIG. 2, which is pivotally mounted Within the nosevsection 36 of the container 10 and at its rear end in linkage 20. Ashock line 134, for a purpose to be explained below may also be used,and if so, is also tied at its ends to bushing 84 and linkage 20. Shockline 134 would be shorter in length than tie cord 18. A leader core 24,carrying leader parachute 12' is tied at its ends to linkage 22 and abushing 124.

Line charge 16 is composed of segmental portions 144 of explosivecomposition material, FIG. 4, placed together in semi-circular segmentsand enclosed in heavy duty nylon covers 146. The composition segments144 have a opening 147 providing for a central nylon core 148 anddetonating cords 150, at least in the forward portion of line charge 16.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show how parachutes 12 spaced at equal intervals alongcharge 16 may be attached. Every other shroud line 152 is terminated ina loop 154 in the annular groove 156 formed between adjacent segments ofline charge 16. Loops 154 are circumferentially arranged in groove 156While the ends of the other shroud lines 152 are brought to complete theloops by stitching 157. One or more heavy duty nylon cords 158 are thenpassed 3 through loops 154 and tied or clamped in any known fashion,thereby locking shroud lines 152 in place. The canopy of parachute 12 isprovided with a central opening 160 and an annular skirt 162 therein forsupporting a plurality of rope loops 164 se'wed in with skirt 162 to thecanopy. A heavy duty nylon cord 166 pulled once or twice through loops164 insure that the canopy is locked in place, preferably in the annulargroove between segments of line charge 16. An opening closalble with azip per 168 in the canopy extending through skirt 162 to the outercanopy edge permits easy mounting of parachutes 12. Zipper pull 170 maybe locked in place by pulling cord 166 through an opening therein. Theends of cord 166 may be tied or locked together in any known manner.

The operation of the line dispensing apparatus described above is asfollows:

Container housing the coils of line charge 16 is releasably mounted tothe underside of the fuselage or 'wing of the aircraft delivering saiddevice.

At the instant of release, the tail cone is ejected to the rear and awayfrom container 10. Immediately following this action, parachutes 13become caught in the slip stream and become fully engaged. Parachutes 13act to brake container 10 from the point where brackets 110 are rigidlyconnected to the top of container 10, just to the rear of the center ofgravity of the device. This will insure that container 10 will ride in anose-up position during the descent. This is desirable because a fuze incontainer 10 should not be detonated before line charge 16 is fullyengaged with the ground, in order to obtain most efficient blasting. Ascontainer 10 continues its flight and descent, the slip stream acting onparachutes 12' forces unwinding of line 16 with its parachutes 12mounted thereon. When line charge 16 is fully extended, shock line 134absorbs the shock by breaking. Tie cord 18 is then easily capable ofabsorbing the remaining shock and holding line charge 16 in connectionwith container 10 during the remainder of their descent together.

When all the lines become fully extended, container 10 and line charge16 assume the attitude shown in FIG. 1. Container 10 is the last memberto settle to the ground, and the fuze after a suitable time delayfollowing release of container 10 from the aircraft, detonates theexplosive segments of line charge 16. In this manner, the explosionproduced is most effective in blasting an extended path or ditch throughany obstacled area, and detonating any line ground mines which may existin the area.

In summary, the device described above provides for a line charge orother line element to be delivered by air to ground in a given targetarea in such a manner that a line up to 300 ft. in length may be landedfully extended in order to blow a path through a mine field or otherobstacled area.

While the novel arrangements and methods have been described inconnection with the dispensation of line explosive charges for militaryuse, it is apparent that they may have broader application to dispensinggenerally and for landing extended elements for other more generalpurposes, as for example, laying communications cable or makingtopographical studies.

Since certain changes in this invention may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matterscontained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:

An air-dropped mine detonating device for clearing a path along thesurface of a mined field, comprising: a plurality of segments ofexplosive composition, means connecting said segments in tandemarrangement to form a flexible line charge and forming by the separationof each pair of adjacent segments a plurality of annular grooves atspaced intervals along its length, a plurality of parachutes each havingshroud lines and a canopy, said shroud lines being drawn respectivelyinto selected ones of said grooves and sewed into loops, a tie rope insaid selected ones slipped through said loops for fixing said shroudlines to said line charge, each of said canopies having a centralopening through which said line charge passes, means fixing saidparachute at said central opening to selected others of said groovesusing a plurality of loops and a tie rope, and weight means connected atthe end of said line charge opposite the concave portions of saidparachute; whereby when said device is launched from an aircraft insubstantially horizontal flight said.

device will remain in a substantially extended and horizontal attitudethroughout its descent to the mined field.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS SAMUEL W. ENGLE, PrimaryExaminer.

ARTHUR M. HORTON, SAMUEL FEINBERG, SAM- UEL BOYD, Examiners.

P. G. BETHERS, Asis'istant Examiner.

